I was browsing through a very old Winston Collegiate Dictionary when I came across the following item that I wasn't aware of, and I believe many others aren't either, especially Christians:

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION: The dogma, officially proclaimed in 1854
that the virgin Mary, though naturally begotten, was, through divine favor, preserved from all stain of original sin from the moment she was conceived in her mother's womb.

Now that date really raised my eyebrows because the way it looks, the New Testament is a lot newer than Christians claim it to be. Hell, that was only seven years before the American Civil War. Why did it take the Christians all those centuries to decide on this event. Where did the evidence to support this claim come from, and being that this event is the very basis for the Christian religion, why was such an important item suppressed for all those centuries?

If these very imaginative concoctions can be inserted into the bible at random, it makes me wonder how many times this has happened over the centuries.. It's like; "Hey guys, I've got a great idea."

As almost all Protestants will tell you, the doctrine of Immaculate Conception has no biblical support whatsoever.

The Roman Catholics differ from the Protestants in that their ultimate authority is the Church, which consists of the historical body of Church doctrine, plus the Bible, plus the decrees of the Popes.

I am satisfied with using my own mind to determine what I will or will not believe, giving my the liberty to abandon a precept if can be shown to be flawed. Of course, I think all theists do this, too, when they simply choose to surrender to a dogma and stop having to consider a given matter. Some atheists are like many theists in this respect, in that their atheism is no longer subject to revision.

Of course, if a fetus of the first trimester differs little from a prawn, then such cherished dogma as the Immaculate Conception is in grave danger. Thus it is in the Roman Catholic Church's interest to preserve the apparent integrity of this and other dogmata by vehemently and violently opposing every woman's right to choose abortion. Think about it.